Gold Medal Game: USA vs. Canada OH MAMA DON'T YOU CRY

Today's preview is brought to you in youtube form, because who doesn't mail in a preview of a matinee game?

First, a word from our dirty communist neighbors to the north:


Next up, and far more important:


And here's hoping we see more of this:


We've seen these teams play before, a week ago. Huge game. Team USA is officially the home team, so they should be using last shift to their advantage as much as possible.

Go out there and take it.
USA! USA! USA!

Semifinals: USA vs. Finland LET'S BE FRIENDS TOMORROW

(nice hat, brah!)

Men's Olympic Semi-final Game
3pm ET, 2pm CT, 1pm MT, 12pm PT
Team USA vs. Finland

By the time you see this they could be playing already. Here's both teams in pictures. Click on the pictures for really really big (desktop-size!) versions:

The finns are a pretty good team. They knocked this guy out of the tournament:


Watch out for this trio:
I'm afraid of a lot of this:








But it could be ok, because we have this handsome fellow:


They're playing here:
Or maybe here, I just like arena photographs:

So hope for lots of this:


And a finish like this:

USA! USA! USA!

Game 1: USA vs. Switzerland NBC ISN'T THE ONLY BROADCASTER THAT COULD FUCK IT UP, BUT THEY SURE ARE GOOD AT IT

(click for really big - desktop size)

Game 1.
Victory.

3-1 win, and a "Miller Shutout."

USA! USA! USA!

Game 42 Recap: BRUINS 4 SENS 1 USA 6 CANADA 5 USA! USA! USA!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

THE UNITED STATES IS YOUR
2010 WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPION!!!!

Eat it, Canada.

But I get ahead of myself. The puck dropped for the Bruins at 7:30 in Ottawa, aka "asshole-town" as soon as the cheechoo train guy finds out Cheechoo is traded. (HEY CHEECHOO GUY: MAKE MORE VIDEOS!)

The Bruins got off to an early lead, scoring about a hundred thousand goals and making it so if you had NHL network you were flipping over to the gold medal game. Hell yes.

Bruins prospect Jordan Caron got an assist on the first Canadian goal, but Lucic said he "liked his style of play" so that's a positive.

annnnnyways,

USA ends up up 2-1, tied 2-2, up 5-3. Here's the game in 10 minutes:

If you don't want to watch just those ten minutes, they're re-showing it tonight at 6pm on NHL Network. Hell of a game.

This is how the game ends:

huh, the sound cuts out a bit there. wonder why...
GO BRUINS!
USA! USA! USA!

The 5 Best USA! USA! USA! vs. USSR/Russia Moments through history

Today is the 40th anniversary of the first Lunar Landing. I wondered what the top moments in USA/USSR history would be, and I'll be focusing on space exploration and hockey. Also, there's nothing going on in the NHL now. In no particular order, here are the ones I came up with:

Sputnik, High Earth Orbit

After World War II got the rocket era going, The USSR built one powerful enough to get into space. The USA was trying to, as well, but the Russians got there first. Sputnik is a little metal ball that broadcast a simple beeping signal that could be picked up from earth.
Advantage: USSR

Apollo 11, The Moon

The USSR may have gotten into space first, but the USA was the first country in the history of the Earth to put a person on another object in space. The importance of such an event can still be felt today, 40 years later, as noted scientists like Stephen Hawking are claiming that humans should look deeper into space colonization.

Advantage: USA! USA! USA!

1980 Olympics, Lake Placid, NY

A Picture's worth a thousand words.
Advantage: USA! USA! USA!

1960 Olympics, Squaw Valley, CA - Now, the tournament format meant that it wasn't quite as dramatic as USA vs. USSR in the semifinals as in 1980. However, the final round pitted the finalists from the first round into another round robin tournament. One could argue that Canada was a bigger threat than USSR in this case, and you'd be mostly right. USA won 5 out of 5 games to bring home the gold, and Canada lost only to USA. However, the USA beat most other teams by a wide margin, and beat both Canada and USSR by one goal.

The big part of this is that from 1956 to 1992 (if you include the unified team) the Soviet Union managed to win every gold medal in Ice Hockey except for 2 - 1960 and 1980. The 1980 victory has overshadowed the 1960 victory, thanks to time and a couple movies made about the 1980 team.
Advantage: USA! USA! USA!

Number 5 is up to audience participation. Since I was about 7 when the Soviet Union fell, I might be missing something here. So: What's your favorite Cold War moment?

p.s. wouldn't feel right ending a post without
GO BRUINS!